What’s a Shamuku? It’s a haiku… killer whale-style

For those of you who follow Shamu on Twitter, you know his style. For a marine mammal l living underwater, his sense of humor is very dry. He keeps his followers laughing -- and since it's the holiday season, he's in the spirit of giving. On Monday, he declared this week “Giveaway Time”!

For the amusement of his Twitter followers - and naturally, himself -- he created a game to give away items with the @RealShamu logo. (psst: @RealShamu was his former moniker, used before he earned the Twitter street cred he can now lay claim to.)

To make sure we're all up to speed, let's first answer the question: What is haiku? A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively.

So...what's a Shamuku?

A Shamuku is a Shamu-centric poem written in true haiku form - with phrases of 5, 7, and 5 - and this particular one had to include a reference to the holiday season. To enter the contest, participants emailed their Shamuku submissions to @Shamu via email.

Shamu has selected his Top 3 favorites. Now it's YOUR turn to vote for the Best Shamuku.

kristingrey: Shamu on Twitter, Can he type with those flippers? Smartest fish around

DeirdreS: When they say "Splash Zone," Take it seriously, dude, Or freeze in summer

For those of you on Twitter, follow @Shamu to find out who wrote “The Best Shamuku” tomorrow at 5 p.m. For those not yet tweeting, we'll also announce the winner here on the SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment blog tomorrow at 5 p.m. Happy voting - and happy holidays!